Potsdam, NY - With the majority of the roster filled by underclassmen, the Clarkson University Volleyball team could have been expected to stumble this year instead of challenging for the league's regular-season title, but the Golden Knights ended up in second place after beating Union in the opening match on Saturday, but falling to Skidmore in the season-finale at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights moved to 22-5 overall and 10-2 in the Liberty League and will face Potsdam on Tuesday night before competing in the NYU Tournament next weekend. The first weekend of November, Clarkson will travel to Saratoga Springs to compete in the Liberty League conference tournament where they will take on third-seeded Vassar College. Skidmore will face RIT in the other semifinal that weekend.

In the opening match of the day, Clarkson continued to hit at a high level akin to Friday's performance, striking at a .345 hitting percentage with 47 kills and just nine errors en route to a 3-0 victory (25-17, 25-16, 25-20). Freshman Aishvina Arasu (Brea, CA) had 16 kills with only two errors in 32 attempts and tacked on 12 digs. Classmate Victoria Kirkemo (Englewood, CO) nearly matched Arasu, hitting 13 kills with two errors in 33 attempts, while also producing 12 digs. Another freshman, Kirstie Shurie (LaCanada, CA) had 33 assists and 12 digs as well, and Lauren Hutchinson (Spring, TX) added to the Clarkson offense with nine kills. Erika Chin (Katy, TX) led the defense with 17 digs.

In the second match of the day for the Knights, which wound up deciding the conference regular season champion, Clarkson was in each of the sets but fell in three (25-21, 25-21, 25-23). Skidmore's strategy of loading the back row with defensive specialists throughout the match worked once again as Clarkson swung away hard but had to watch the Thoroughbreds keep points alive long enough for the Knights to make errors to end points. Arasu once again had 14 kills and Kirkemo chipped in 13 kills to lead the offense, while Shurie had 31 assists and Chin had a team-best 19 digs. One of the leading serving teams in the conference for several years running, Clarkson mustered just three aces against Skidmore.

In other matches at Alumni Gymnasium, Skidmore beat RIT in three sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-10), and RIT beat St. Lawrence in four sets (26-28, 25-21, 25-18, 25-21).